1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable protection and guide device which securely protects and guides a flexible cable, such as an electric cable for transmitting electric signals or supplying electricity or a hose for supplying oil or air pressure, that connects a movable portion and a fixed portion in an industrial machine or a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
In the prior art, there is known a cable protection and guide device having a number of link frame bodies connected to each other in a longitudinal direction of a cable (referred to as “a cable longitudinal direction” or “longitudinally” hereinafter). Each of the link frame bodies has a pair of link side plates provided so as to be spaced from each other in a lateral direction, and connecting arms bridging over both sides (referred to as “cable flexion outer and inner circumferential sides” hereinafter) of the pair of link side plates connected flexibly in the cable longitudinal direction. The device accommodates and guides a cable at the interior of the link frame bodies from one to the other of a cable fixed end and a cable movable end, and is capable of taking a linear position in which the device is in contact with a support surface of a support, and a flexional position in which the device is spaced from the support surface as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2007-92939 and 2007-247716 for example.
FIGS. 11A and 11B show an exemplary prior art cable protection and guide device 500.
Specifically, FIG. 11A is a cross-sectional view of link frame bodies of the cable protection and guide device 500 of the prior art as seen in an inside-to-outside direction thereof, and FIG. 11B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion marked as 11B in FIG. 11A.
Each of the link frame bodies of the conventional cable protection and guide device 500 includes a pair of link side plates 510 (only one side of them is shown) provided so as to be spaced from each other in a lateral direction, a flexion outer circumferential-side connecting arm 520 bridging over a cable flexion outer circumferential side of the pair of link side plates 510, and a flexion inner circumferential-side connecting arm 530 bridging over a cable flexion inner circumferential side of the pair of link side plates 510.
The link side plate 510 is integrally composed of a front side plate portion 511 connected to another link side plate 510 preceding in the cable longitudinal direction to form the cable flexion inner circumferential side, a rear side plate portion 512 connected to yet another link side plate 510 succeeding in the cable longitudinal direction to form the cable flexion outer circumferential side, and a flexible linkage portion 513 interposed between the front side plate portion 511 and the rear side plate portion 512.
The cable protection and guide device 500 is configured so as to be capable of taking a linear position in which the device 500 is in contact with a support surface 541 of a support 540, and a flexional position in which the device 500 is separated from the support surface 541.
Unfortunately, because a flexion outer circumferential-side surface 521 of the flexion outer circumferential-side connecting arm 520 is coplanar with a flexion outer circumferential edge 512a of the link side plate 510, the aforementioned conventional cable protection and guide device 500 has problems. Specifically, when the device moves from the flexional position to the linear position, the problems include:
the flexion outer circumferential-side connecting arm 520 comes in contact with the support surface 541 of the support face 540 to generate noise,
the flexion outer circumferential-side connecting arm 520 is abraded, and,
the flexion outer circumferential-side connecting arm 520 collides with the support surface 541 of the support face 540 to be disconnected from the link side plate 510.
Accordingly, there is a need for:
a cable protection and guide device which is capable of preventing noise and abrasion powder otherwise generated by the flexion outer circumferential-side connecting arm, and,
avoiding disconnection of the flexion outer circumferential-side connecting arm when the device moves from the flexional position to the linear position.